The Measurement of Solar Magnetic Fields

Abstract

The different methods which have been used, or which may be used in the future, to measure solar magnetic fields are described and discussed. Roughly these can be divided into three groups (a) those which use the influence of the magnetic field on the electromagnetic radiation, (b) those which use the influence of the field on the structure of the solar atmosphere (MHD effects), and (c) those which use theoretical arguments. The former include the Zeeman effect, the Hanle effect, the gyro and synchrotron radiations and the Faraday rotation of radiowaves. The second includes the alignment of details at all levels of the solar atmosphere, and the calcium network, and the third makes use, for example, of the assumption of equipartition between magnetic and kinetic energy density.